The nursery was evacuated following the dramatic event yesterday and parents collected the children.

Owner Dawn Hartley said: “I was in the office and I thought it was an earthquake.

“The van has hit the wall and the stones have gone through the window, smashing the glass.

“There were children in the room, but they were all in the corner, building a tower out of bricks. One child received a minor cut. The little boy has gone to hospital to be checked out but it was a minor cut caused by flying glass.”

She said 16 pre-school children were in the room at the time.

“The parents and staff have been amazing, and thankfully nobody has been seriously hurt.”

Husband Andy Hartley said: “It’s lucky we built the wall, because that has stopped the van going into the nursery and has taken the brunt of the damage.”

Simone Porter, room leader, was in the room with the children when the accident happened.

She said: “The room shook and it was a big shock. We got everyone out and the children are fine. The staff have been sweeping up all the shrapnel inside.”

The driver of the van received minor injuries and police are investigating the cause of the crash.

A spokesman said: “We were called to the scene at 1.10pm.

“It appears that the driver of the van has hit the front wall of the nursery. The staff have evacuated the nursery and parents were collecting their children while police were at the scene. The building inspector was called to assess the damage.

“Highways staff dealt with oil spoilt on the road.”

The road was closed, but it reopened at 2.30pm.

An ambulance spokesman said: “The 20-year-old driver was conscious and breathing with no obvious injuries or bleeding.